NFL Draft Grades 2018: Pittsburgh Steelers select Terrell Edmunds at No. 28

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Terrell Edmunds with the 28th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. How does this selection grade out?

The Pittsburgh Steelers upgraded their needs at the safety position and selected Terrell Edmunds out of Virginia Tech with their first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. After releasing Mike Mitchell, the starting slot alongside Sean Davis became open for business in the off-season. Free agency brought in Morgan Burnett from the Packers, yet Pittsburgh knew the future at the position needed to be addressed at some point in the draft.

Edmunds, brother of fellow 2018 first-round pick Tremaine, comes to the Steel City with the physical tools that a Steelers defense desires, as Edmunds is listed as 6-7 with 217 pounds attached to his frame. While Burnett may still handle starting duties in the defensive backfield, Edmunds is expected to come in and contribute to special teams right away, a right of passage for a Mike Tomlin-coached team.

However, you don’t draft a player in the first round to only play special teams (at least we truly hope not). Edmunds has shown to at least be more versatile and posted some of the best metrics out of any safety in this class, despite criticisms for inconsistencies and being overly-aggressive.

Absolutely nobody saw this pick coming, for a variety of reasons. Edmunds was widely considered to be a second- or third-round pick among league personnel due to his injury history, weaknesses in deep coverage and inconsistent play. General manager Kevin Colbert has displayed a successful track record when it comes to drafting in the first round, but this pick has left many scratching their heads due to how quietly the team favored Edmunds.

The former Hokie has the capability of anchoring down the Steelers secondary for years to come. However, with players in the likes of Justin Reid and Ronnie Harrison still left on the board, Edmunds must have truly impressed the Steelers for them to reach over who many considered more talented safeties. It’s also important to mention Derrius Guice, Lamar Jackson and Harold Landry all surprisingly fell to the 28th pick before Pittsburgh passed on them as well, leaving other options open to address.

Edmunds fits the mold for what the Steelers like their safeties to be: Physically gifted and can play to the line of scrimmage. However, Edmunds comes across as raw given how athletic he is. Time will need to take it’s course in order for Edmunds to prove he should have been taken in the first round. The potential is there for Edmunds to become one of the better safeties for Pittsburgh in recent memory, however given the draft stock of the Virginia Tech product, this pick would have made better sense on day two rather than one.

Grade: B-

Next: NFL Draft 2018: Grades for each first-round pick

For now the Steelers earn a B- grade for their pick when taking into consideration other options available. The athlete is there in Edmunds, as he’s a big, versatile safety that can offer Pittsburgh a variety of services. It’s just a matter of working out the flaws that put him as a third rounder rather than a first. One thing is for certain though, Colbert and company clearly don’t care about mock drafts.